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iPhone X production faces further ‘incremental delay’ to mid-October

Apple’s new iPhone X is experiencing an “incremental delay” in its build plans that will likely delay production until mid-October, according to a new investor note obtained by Barron’s. The note reveals that production of the flagship iPhone doesn’t appear to have started yet, and the mid-October production start represents a one-month delay compared to previous expectations. The investor note primarily concerns itself with aspect of when Apple would be able to realize earnings from the sale of the new iPhone, noting that production would shift more into “the December quarter” and that it relates to the “tone and expectations” for that quarter. It’s not entirely clear, however, whether Apple has already factored in these production delays into its promised Nov. 3 ship date, or whether that date could possibly slip, however the note does seem to make it more likely that availability of the new iPhone X may be more limited than originally anticipated.

Pre-orders of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus opened last Friday with far less of the usual rush on the new devices — most models continued to be available with reasonable ship dates throughout the day, in stark contrast to prior years where many models saw delivery times of several weeks within the first few minutes of going on sale. While it’s possible Apple may have had considerably more stock of the iPhone 8 models available, last week’s trend also suggests that many of the early adopters — those most likely to be awake between midnight and 3 a.m. to be first in the queue — may very well be waiting for the iPhone X instead.